


The Fortress

by SunlightOnTheWater



Series: Ruby and Sam [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Sam gets a house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 03:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1803481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Lilith's death Sam tries to pull the shattered remains of his life together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fortress

Sam took Ruby to a hospital. He didn't want to leave her alone, not after everything that she'd done for him, but he couldn't take her with him. It wouldn't be safe once Dean told everyone he was a demon and the hunters started coming after him. A long time ago, when Ruby had been trying to get through to him after Dean's brutal death by hellhounds, she'd taken to sitting next to him chatting about whatever. One day she'd mentioned that she had a whole life under the name Charity Hammond, even health insurance. "With Lilith hating my guts and all," she'd said with a flip of her newly red streaked brown hair. "I thought it'd be best to having something legitimate to come back too, especially if I end up hurt. It would be bad if I was in a coma and someone decided to pull the plug on my body because I don't have the money to cover it." Now the words echoing in Sam's head sounded vaguely prophetic and that made him almost choke on his tears.

It was a fairly simple matter to get Ruby set up in special care at a hospital with Sam's new cell phone number as the only contact. Then he left "Charity Hammond" behind and headed out of town. At dawn he checked into a sleazy motel and collapsed, to his surprise, on the bed. Almost immediately he was asleep. He woke up twenty minutes later screaming Ruby's name. That became the pattern. He'd already paid for the room with cash so he left when the sun set, leaving no trace behind. The pattern continued for seven days until Sam found himself in a bar in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He hadn't meant to come here but somehow he'd managed it anyway. Sam didn't even found himself surprised when Bobby Singer sat down next to him. Last time he'd seen the man that had been more of a father to him than John, Bobby and Dean had been locking him in the panic room to detox from demon blood. Now he was a demon and the man had to now.

"Dean called about a week ago," Bobby said, his voice gruff as he stared at the wall behind the bar. "Was babbling about you being turned into a demon and maybe coming after all of us." Sam turned his head, glancing directly at Bobby, and the man stared back, not flinching even when Sam was sure his eyes were nightmare black. "So what're you goin' to do now boy?"

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "Find a place and hide, I guess."

"Okay," Bobby said after a moment. "I might have a place." Then the man stood and headed out of the bar. Sam hesitated a moment, knowing that this could be a trap. Dean could be waiting with the Colt that Ruby had helped fix before Dean's deal had come due. Waiting to eliminate him. Sam wasn't armed, not even with Ruby's knife which was hidden in the bottom of his duffel but who would really care if he was gone? Sure, Dean and Bobby would mourn his humanity, but they'd get over it. Ruby, if she ever woke up, would just assume that Lilith's blast would have just killed him. With that thought in mind, Sam followed the man out of the bar.

Bobby was waiting for him alone by his rusty old tow truck. "Took you long enough boy," the man grumbled and Sam managed a weak smile. "I'd invite you back to the house but the traps would make it a bit of an issue." Sam nodded in agreement. "There's a place in Indiana. And old hunter friend a' mine used to own it before he met his end and the place has sat empty since then. I can transfer the deed to you and you can get it set up if you want." Sam was stunned into silence. He hadn't expected to ever see anyone who he'd known before killing Lilith again, at least not on good terms, so Bobby's offer of help shocked him. "I ain't cuttin' you off boy," Bobby said and Sam nodded numbly. "Get some rest, if you need it anymore, and come to the yard in the morning. I'll get you what you need then."

Sam slept restlessly and drove to the salvage yard at first light, feeling exhausted and edgy. There was still a good chance that this was a trap but he didn't know what else to do. Bobby was waiting for him with an envelope in his hand. "All the information you need is in here," the man said, handing over the envelope. "The house might need some fixin' but you won't know until you get there."

"Thank you," Sam said hesitantly and Bobby smiled at him slightly.

"You take care of yourself boy," he said. "And call me."

"I will," Sam promised. Then he turned and walked away.

The drive from South Dakota to Indiana using mostly back roads to avoid running into lots of people, was long and Sam had plenty of time to debate his decision to trust the man. Yes, Bobby had been like a father to him for many years, but Sam was a demon now and that should have changed everything. "Why do you care?" he snapped at himself. "The world would probably be better off if you died anyway." He drove the rest the way to Indiana in silence, making two stops for gas and one stop at a McDonald's to find the location of the house Bobby had given him the information for. 

The modest two story house was in fairly decent shape for having been abandoned for a while with only one cracked window and a little foundation problem. Both things would be fixed when Sam worked all the protective symbols he knew and the ones Ruby had shown him to keep himself from being found. The key was exactly where Bobby had written it was, buried at the bottom of a crumbling flowerpot. Sam unlocked the front door, swollen from humid northern Indiana summers, and shoved it inward. It squealed across cheap linoleum flooring and he stepped inside. Every surface was covered with a layer of grime. The house was still and silent and it needed some work but Sam could see living here. He resolved to call Bobby and thank the man if he had twenty-four hours without being attacked.

Sam spent the next week and a half cleaning every surface he could with a few stops at a couple small towns to stock up, neither one closer than a half an hour, and finally admitted to himself that he needed more supplies. And someone trustworthy who could do some construction. For the second he would call Bobby but for the first he would make the hour and forty-five minute drive south to Fort Wayne. He did some research, considering what he needed along with new clothing, debated enclosed spaces versus outside, and headed toward Jefferson Point. Jefferson Point was an outside shopping complex and it was there, inside a local Barnes and Noble where Sam had stopped to see if they had anything about lore (which wasn't likely in big chain book stores but was still worth the stop), where he ran into Meg.

Sure, they hadn't seen her since the whole mess with Azazel where Dean had tied her to a chair and interrogated her, and sure she was wearing a different meatsuit, but Sam knew it was her. "Little Sammy Winchester," she mused, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder. "What has life done to you?"

"I killed Lilith," he told her.

"I know," she replied. "I really ought to thank you for that, little brother. You cleared the way for me since you don't want Hell. Unless of course you've changed your mind."

" _No_ ," Sam snapped vehemently. Then everything Meg had said sunk in. "Wait, little brother?"

"Of course," Meg said cheerfully. "You have Daddy's blood, after all. Check out the next aisle over. There's a special little book about demonology for you behind the Bobby Flay cookbooks." Then she turned and sauntered off.

Sam stared after her before going to find the demonology book, a truly ancient number he'd never seen before, and then finishing his errands. Bobby was able to recommend a man who'd done construction for hunters before and would never spill a word of what he'd done to anyone else. Slowly the house began to take place. Sam slowly felt himself begin to settle in. Then, after two months of relative silence from the hospital, Ruby showed up on his doorstep. He woke up at six in the morning to rattling at the door and grabbed her demon killing knife before creeping stealthily toward the door. What he saw outside startled him.

"Hey lover boy," she called cheerfully. "Nice place you have here. Mind letting the wards down and letting me in?"

"Ruby," he breathed out in relief and she smiled gently at him.

"Yes Sam. I'm here." It took him a moment to remember the correct symbols he had to draw in blood to allow Ruby and only Ruby into his home. He had to instruct Ruby on what to do on her side too and finally she was in and hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry Sam," she whispered against his chest. "I didn't mean to leave you."

"I know," Sam told her, voice wavering slightly. "I promise I know." He hesitated a moment and then added the words that he'd only ever told Jessica. "I love you."

Ruby looked up at him, eyes wide and adoring, and told him, "I love you too."


End file.
